Dominguez v. State (2000)

In Dominguez v. State, 62 S.W.3d 203 (Tex. App.--El Paso 2000, pet. ref'd), the trial court refused to sever the trial on allegations of unlawful possession of a controlled substance and failure to stop and render aid, offenses which are markedly different than those before us. Id. at 205. The appellate court recognized that, on his timely request, Dominguez was entitled to a severance of the offenses and that the trial court erred by refusing to grant the severance. Id. at 206. The court concluded, however, that evidence of each of the crimes would have been admissible in a separate trial of the other offense as "same transaction contextual evidence." Id. at 208. Since the jury would have heard "the same evidence regardless of whether the offenses were tried separately in different trials or together in one," the court concluded it was harmless error to refuse to sever the offenses. Id.